Question Should I get a new psu

je1983

Distinguished
Jul 17, 2016
135
0
18,680
I bought a new pc in 2016 but I chose to use my 400w Antec neo eco psu that I had on my previous pc since 2007 in order to save some money.

My pc now is running fine, B150m-a, 4 hdd's, 16g ram, onboard graphics, case fan and mobo fan. Sometimes when I leave a usb drive in the port my wifi cuts off but I can't tell if that's a power issue.

I run my pc 24/7 and I'm concerned the continued running and the age of the psu might be an issue.
 
PSU’s deteriorate with time and usage. Although I believe that was a good psu in its day it will be well past it’s best and out of warranty. If a psu fails it can damage any other components it is connected too. It would seem sensible to replace it.

No idea if this will fix your WiFi issue, I doubt it though. My guess is that is driver or faulty motherboard/WiFi card related.
 
That was an "ok", "average" and "mediocre" unit when it was new. Not particularly bad. Not particularly good. Just "ok".

Units that are "just ok" aren't usually expected to last much more than 3-5 years without giving up the ghost at some point. The fact that you've managed to get 12 years out of it should be considered a blessing, but I think it would be wiser, and safer, to move on from that unit if you have any desire to not see damage being done to the rest of your hardware when that unit starts to take a nosedive and it's protections maybe either fail or it starts cranking out excessive ripple, or isn't quite regulating voltage properly anymore. In a nutshell, at 12 years old, it's time to replace that unit. Even the VERY BEST Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium units are only warrantied for 12 years and are probably not expected to live beyond that, and there were ZERO power supplies with 12 year warranties back in 2007 so that tells you something. That unit probably had a one or three year warranty back then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: digitalgriffin
Aug 18, 2019
34
0
30
i dont think thats the issue maybe its the motherboard idk no one can tell unless you troubleshoot it anyway that psu is kinda good but its just old maybe replace it unless you gonna wait till it dies
 

gn842a

Honorable
Oct 10, 2016
666
47
11,140
When your new PSU arrives DO NOT USE ANY OF THE OLD CABLES WITH THE NEW PSU. They will fry everything in the system. And should you have two new psus on hand, don't use cables from the one with the other.
 
That depends entirely on what the old PSU model and new PSU model are. There are plenty of instances where you CAN use the old cables with a new unit, but also a great many instances where you don't want to do that, because the pinouts will be different. Usually, if they are from with in the same series, or if the manufacturer specifies that cables from one series are compatible with units from another series that they sell, then it's fine. You certainly don't want to use cables from one brand with a PSU that is a completely different brand, in most if not all cases though.
 
PSU’s deteriorate with time and usage. Although I believe that was a good psu in its day it will be well past it’s best and out of warranty. If a psu fails it can damage any other components it is connected too. It would seem sensible to replace it.

No idea if this will fix your WiFi issue, I doubt it though. My guess is that is driver or faulty motherboard/WiFi card related.

Provided it wasnt abused it could still be viable ad a power supply. I know old at power supplies that are still going strong 25 and years later. (That was a different era however.). My 7 year old Corsair AX850 is still somewhat decent on the rails. But its noise isn't as good as it used to be. Theres definitely more ripple. But i always over spec supplies so they last longer.

But as dark breeze wisely points out, you might be pushing your luck. Back then the safeties (oc/ov) werent as good.

If you wish to continue using it, i would inspect it for bulging caps and burning leads/traces. MAKE SURE THE CAPS ARE DRAINED before you crack it open. If they look okay, run it no more than 64% rated power continous (256 watts in your case). That would be roughly 300 watts from the wall.
 

gn842a

Honorable
Oct 10, 2016
666
47
11,140
That depends entirely on what the old PSU model and new PSU model are. There are plenty of instances where you CAN use the old cables with a new unit, but also a great many instances where you don't want to do that, because the pinouts will be different. Usually, if they are from with in the same series, or if the manufacturer specifies that cables from one series are compatible with units from another series that they sell, then it's fine. You certainly don't want to use cables from one brand with a PSU that is a completely different brand, in most if not all cases though.

Some things aren't worth it, especially since psus ship with complete sets of cables. When the OEMs agree on a pin out standard we can set this nonsense to rest.

As for a new PSU the only real question is how desperate is one for money. Like anything else keeping a PC operating has its costs. A new PSU could be a boon and the only downside is the old one gets to sit in the closet as a backup.

Greg N
 
Some things aren't worth it, especially since psus ship with complete sets of cables. When the OEMs agree on a pin out standard we can set this nonsense to rest.

As for a new PSU the only real question is how desperate is one for money. Like anything else keeping a PC operating has its costs. A new PSU could be a boon and the only downside is the old one gets to sit in the closet as a backup.

Greg N

I'll tell you straight out, if I had a G2 550w and replaced it with any other PSU from the G2, P2, T2 or GQ series, I would not go through the trouble of replacing the existing cables with the ones that came with the unit. They are the same pinout, so why would I bother? Now if I moved to some other manufacturer, or series, that was not specifically compatible, then of course it would be foregone conclusion that you need to change them out. I guess for most users, if you don't know or can't verify, then of course it only makes sense to do that.

And as JG said, since that unit, or for any unit that isn't modular or semi-modular, it's a moot point anyhow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gn842a

gn842a

Honorable
Oct 10, 2016
666
47
11,140
I'll tell you straight out, if I had a G2 550w and replaced it with any other PSU from the G2, P2, T2 or GQ series, I would not go through the trouble of replacing the existing cables with the ones that came with the unit. They are the same pinout, so why would I bother? Now if I moved to some other manufacturer, or series, that was not specifically compatible, then of course it would be foregone conclusion that you need to change them out. I guess for most users, if you don't know or can't verify, then of course it only makes sense to do that.

And as JG said, since that unit, or for any unit that isn't modular or semi-modular, it's a moot point anyhow.

If you know what you're doing what you say makes sense. But for those of us who can't look at a psu and know it's a member of type G2 P2 T2 or GQ series, let alone that they all have the same pinouts, we are best off not taking chances. The cost of being wrong can be equivalent to the cost of the build, for most of us that's a grand or more.

Speaking from my personal perspective, knowing that some pinouts are identical and some not, the amount of time it would take me to do continuity checks and maybe a little diagram to satisfy myself that various wires were identical, I would be better advised just to swap out the wires (if modular).

The industry is built on people whose passion is gaming rigs and gaming and who probably do two or three builds a year, and then a whole bunch of other people who do one build every five years. Simple rules for simple souls, like myself. And I did burn out a build, I'm sorry to say.

Greg N
 
It literally takes two minutes to check the compatibility charts that all of the reputable PSU vendors have on their websites. Simple as that.

For anybody who is uncertain, takes another, maybe ten minutes to post a question on a reasonably helpful forum like this one and get an answer from somebody who maybe knows what they are talking about or knows where to find that information.

For anybody who is too lazy or has no way to do either of those two things, then I'd agree, best to change out the cables in every instance.
 
Get the gray label (NOT a green label) CX550. The High current gamer 520 or 620, or any Seasonic unit that is 520 or 620w, are old designs that are group regulated. They were quality power supplies for their time, but they are probably not as good as the newer CX units with the gray label.
 
Get the gray label (NOT a green label) CX550. The High current gamer 520 or 620, or any Seasonic unit that is 520 or 620w, are old designs that are group regulated. They were quality power supplies for their time, but they are probably not as good as the newer CX units with the gray label.

I just don't get why some people are so down on the S12II and M12II. They are still great PSU's at their price point. I would still take them over the CX or the CXM. Even the newer ones. Build quality and ripple suppression matter too, and S12II and M12II are stellar in those ares when you consider their price point.
 
As I said, they are great for their time AND they are MUCH better than a lot of power supplies out there. They are NOT however better than the newer CX units in an meaningful way. The build quality, protections and component selection inside the newer gray label CX units is at least as good as you want to see for a unit in this price range, and honestly is probably better in all those categories than the older S12II and M12II units. Plus, it is not group regulated.

I have both an S12II and an M12II in the cabinet beneath my work bench and I would have no problem using either of those in any build that didn't expressly require C6/C7 low power state compliance, or even if it did, in a pinch, since I could disable those. But if you can get a unit with build quality that is comparable that isn't group regulated, it just makes sense. Some users don't have that luxury and for them those units are often the best of what they can get their hands on.
 
They are NOT however better than the newer CX units in an meaningful way.......and honestly is probably better in all those categories than the older S12II and M12II units. Plus, it is not group regulated.

I respectfully disagree, but that is the beauty of building your own system. You get to weigh the various characteristics in a way that is perfectly suited to your own personal preferences.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
There's one thing about the S12-II/M12-II that's not yet applicable to the new CX/CXM. Time in grade. Those old Seasonic GB Bronze platforms are solid, been plugging away for 10 years. Not uncommon for them to last double or better their warranty. They may not have the performance of the new CX series (or some of its protections) but they are workhorse psus none the less. Since the CX has only been around since 2015/2017 time will tell if they'll last the same, when put to the same levels of abuse the Seasonics have been dealing with since 2009?
 
Anybody still using the same power supply they were using in 2009 is either oblivious or foolish, or is using it in a system they are not seriously concerned about if they are neither of the first two things. In my opinion, that is simply too long for a unit that wasn't intended to last that long. Six years? Ok. That's twice the warranty period.

9 years? For a unit that was only designed to warrant 3? Eh, no thanks. Not with my hardware. For the fifty bucks those cost, if I was going to use one and wanted to really push things, I'd spend the fifty bucks every six years just to be sure something doesn't degrade to the point where the protections fail. I'd be really surprised, on any system that sees a lot of extended continuous use, that the fan bearings on those would last 9 years anyhow. Maybe on a unit that is only on intermittently. I won't say they can't last, because I've used those exact models for 5-6 years before, but I wouldn't use one beyond that on a system that contained valuable hardware. Maybe on a secondary system.
 
Anybody still using the same power supply they were using in 2009 is either oblivious or foolish, or is using it in a system they are not seriously concerned about if they are neither of the first two things. In my opinion, that is simply too long for a unit that wasn't intended to last that long. Six years? Ok. That's twice the warranty period.

9 years? For a unit that was only designed to warrant 3? Eh, no thanks. Not with my hardware. For the fifty bucks those cost, if I was going to use one and wanted to really push things, I'd spend the fifty bucks every six years just to be sure something doesn't degrade to the point where the protections fail. I'd be really surprised, on any system that sees a lot of extended continuous use, that the fan bearings on those would last 9 years anyhow. Maybe on a unit that is only on intermittently. I won't say they can't last, because I've used those exact models for 5-6 years before, but I wouldn't use one beyond that on a system that contained valuable hardware. Maybe on a secondary system.

I have a few systems that are using PSU's from that period. They aren't 24/7 systems or anything like that, but they are all working perfectly. Oddly enough, they are all S12II's. I manage a system right now that operates in a 90F ambient environment with high level of physical contaminants. That system took out 3 PSU's in 5 years, until I finally got the OK to install an S12II. It put an end to that problem. The S12II and M12II are like tanks. People underestimate them these days. DC to DC isn't everything.

Your overall point is well taken though. There are only a few PSU's I would run that long.
 
Last edited: